Even slow-growing companies can be very successful

In the opinion of Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Friederike Welter, the European Commission's funding initiatives should not only target fast-growing companies, but should also focus on innovative SMEs in general. "Some entrepreneurs don't want their company to grow quickly. Nevertheless, these companies can be very successful," she explained during the panel "The Start up Strategy an Innovation Act: What else to spur and retain innovative Firms in strategic Technologies?" at the 10th European Conference on Corporate R&D and Innovation in Seville (Spain) at the end of September.

At the same time, she recommended making the European single market even more attractive for companies by adopting a more trust-based approach to bureaucracy. She referred to the UK, where the importance of the regulatory system as a dynamic competitive factor in the international location and innovation competition has been at the center of the economic policy discourse for some time instead of small-scale bureaucracy.